When administering a medicament dosage, a marker or a tracking device to cattle it is often necessary to herd the cattle to a particular station for administrating a medicament dosage, a marker, or a tracking device. During this process the cattle goes through intense exertion which results in considerable weight loss which can only be recovered through intensive feeding of several thousands of calories. There is therefore a need to administer cattle with minimal herding requirement. There is also a requirement to implant a medicament or a tracking device through the hide and into the sub-cutaneous flesh at 2-3 inches whilst leaving less tissue and muscle damage than conventional administering methods.
The following prior art documents are acknowledged:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,807,908, GB2346201, U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,036, FR2800867 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,550.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,807,908 is concerned with retarding the velocity of a projectile impact to prevent excessive damage, injury or penetration at the target by using an inflatable membrane. The needle is fixed relative to the casing to the projectile so that the needle has no longitudinal freedom of movement within the cavity towards the nose of the casing.
GB2346201 discloses a marking projectile, which is of a non-penetrating kind. There is no implant member suggested for the delivery of a payload.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,036 incorporates a penetrating needle which is fixed relative to a syringe casing. This system employs a projectile brake to prevent excessive penetration of the needle.
FR2800867 fails to show any form of penetration since it is destined to project a liquid over an object rather than into an object.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,550 disclosed a spinning artillery projectile which has no relatively non-penetrating front face and has no implant of the kind in question for this invention.
An object of the invention is to provide a projectile, which serves to deliver and implant a payload with the minimum of damage and discomfort to an animal target.